1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to acoustic imaging systems, including ultrasonic imaging system which generate two and three dimensional images of discontinuities in tissue and other material.
2. Description of Related Art
B-mode acoustic imaging systems may rely upon motion generated by an acoustic transducer. This may be a moving single-element, forward-or-side viewing device, a transducer acting alone or in combination with a reflecting surface (mirror), or a multiple-element array transducer.
Single-element sector probes may be limited by poor near-field imaging because of reverberations between the transducer and the housing. Deceleration-acceleration forces may be caused by a probe's change in direction at the angular extremes of its sector sweep. This may cause dynamic mirror surface deformations that can impair image quality.
Multiple-element linear transducers may need to suppress lobes arising from constructive interference. They may also need complex electrical interconnections because of a large number of elements and channels. Hence, these array transducers can be extremely expensive.